He only needed 28, but John Delaney received 48 votes and was the second official elected to UEFA's executive committee earlier today, ahead of counterparts from larger nations such as Italy and England.
UEFA, who amongst other things announced a €1m windfall for each of its 55 national football associations from Helsinki, specified the importance of involving children - and especially girls - at grassrooots level at their summit.
At home, meanwhile, the Irish national women's team and the PFAI are currently in mediation with the FAI to discuss their treatment while on international duty, with the FAI facing fierce criticism following revelations at the women's team's press conference at Liberty Hall on Tuesday morning.
With that mediation in mind, Delaney's first official response to the issue was extremely curt.
When asked by Tony O'Donoghue, "didn't you make attempts to solve this earlier?" he responded:
Well, as you know, I've been away the last number of days. But as I understand it now, a mediation has been agreed. It wouldn't be proper of me to comment now. I just hope all matters get resolved.
.@corktod on a busy day for John Delaney, the FAI and the Republic of Ireland Women's national team pic.twitter.com/ougwJf8DGq
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 5, 2017
On RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland earlier today, Ireland's international player of the year Karen Duggan explained the crux of the issue as viewed by the women's team, whose press conference yesterday made headlines on the BBC and further afield:
It's important not to lose sight of what the actual issue here is. It's not about getting a tracksuit, that's very easily resolved. But it's about a group of players who are made of up of teachers, students, and footballers at the end of the day, not having the skills to go in and interact and make developments with the FAI, who have skilled negotiators. We feel that we've done it before and not enough action was taken from it. It hasn't been proactive on the FAI's side. We just want to see the women's game develop and for this group of players and the players coming through to be allowed to reach their potential.
This is not meant to be an "us vs. them" thing. The crux of the issue is we want to be represented by the PFAI. We feel like the PFAI are a knowledgeable group. They are football people. They know the landscape of football in this country and around the world, and we feel like they are best placed to represent us.
